Spring-hinge



P. w. METER. SPRING HINGE.

( No Model.)

Fatented July 18, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcn.

FREDERICK WM. HOEFER, OF FREEPORT, ILLINOIS.

SPRING-HIN'GE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,786, dated July 18,1893.

Application filed August 1, 1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown thatI, FREDERICK WM. I-IoEFER, of Freeport, Stephensoncounty, Illinois, have lnvented certain new and useful Improvements inSpring-Hinges, of which the followmg is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and tothe letters of reference marked thereon.

. The object of my invention is to improve and simplify the spring hingefor which I applied for Letters Patent of the United States on the 31stday of July, 1890, Serial No. 860,484; substantially as hereinafterfully described, and as illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1,shows a plan view of my invention. Fig. 2, is a transverse sectiontherethrough, taken on dotted line 2, 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3, shows alongitudinal central section taken on dotted line 3, 3, Fig. 1. Fig. 4,shows a transverse section taken on dotted line 4:, 4, Fig. 3, and Figs.5 and 6 show modified forms of the stud for retaining the spring.

In the drawings A and A represent the two leaves or screw-plates of thehinge, which, while they may be of any suitable design, are, preferably,rectangular. These plates are connected by suitable lugs, which are solocated and arranged with reference to each other, that the lugs a ofplate A, come between and lap against the inner surface of the lugs a,a, of the plate A. These lugs are connected by pivotal studs 1), b,projecting inward from the lugs a into sfiitable bearings c, c, in theouter faces of lugs a, which latter have channels 0, 0', made thereinfrom their under edge so as to make a passage leading thereto for saidpivotal studs.

Preferably cast integral with plate A and projecting centrally from theinner edge of the same, is a dome or hood B, which, preferably, haslongitudinal, semi-cylindrical wings d, d, projecting in oppositedirections therefrom to within a distance of lugs a, corresponding tothe thickness of lugs a, of the other plate, which occupy the space thusleft, and thereby give the hinge the appearance of having a continuouscylindrical knuckle extending in alignment with the pivotal center fromone end of the hinge to the other. If

desired the hood may be given such shape as Serial No. 401,380- (Nomodel.)

to avoid having a distinctive shape, and may possess a cylindrical shapelike said wings so as not. to be distinguishable therefrom. This hood Bhas a stud O projecting downward from the under surface of its roof atright angles to the plane of the screw-plate A. This stud has placedupon it a spiral-spring D consisting, preferably, of not more than twoor three coils, and has its ends 6, e, terminate so that they extendtangentially in opposite directions parallel to the pivotal center ofthe hinge. Each end 6 of spring 7D extends to andenters a recess E madein the outer edge of lugs a, of plate A, which are so located as to beon that side of the pivotal center of the hinge nearest the plate A. Thepressure exerted by this spring is such, therefore, as to keep thescrew-plates on the same plane, or parallel to each other. Stud 0 isprovided on its free end with a toe f which projects laterally therefromin a direction opposite to plate A. This toe is for the purpose ofpreventing the spring from slipping off the stud. It may be made part ofa separate piece F as shown in Fig. 5, and may rest inagrooved seat madelongitudinally in the outer face of said stud with reference thereto,with its upper end extending up through a suitable opening in the roofof said hood, and swaged on the outside so as to retain it in place.However, instead of providing this too, which is the cheapest andsimplest under the circumstances, I could make the stud slightly longerand pass a pin or key laterally through the same to prevent the springslipping off. The pressure of the ends of said snrin g are toward plateA. Thus when the plates are on the same parallel plane, the tendency ofthe spring is to keep them in such position; when the plates have beenmoved to a position-about at right angles to each other the spring willbe in a contracted condition, and its efforts to return to its normalstatus will cause the plates to close together in positions parallel toeach other. In moving the plates in the opposite direction this samecontraction and expansion of spring D causes the plates to act just thereverse of the operation just described.

It is apparent that instead of stud 0, upon which spring D is secured,depending from the under surface of the roof of hood B said stud couldproject outward from plate A itself, and the hood be dispensed with. Iprefer the use of this hood, however.

What I claim as new is The combination with the screw-plates ot a 5hinge, one of which has a stud projecting at right angles to andintersected by the pivotal center of the hinge which is provided with alaterally projecting toe, of a coil-spring coiled upon said stud, havingits ends extending parallel to the pivotal center of the hinge, to andsuitably connected to the other plate, as

set forth.

FREDERICK WM. HOEFER. Witnesses:

D. B. BREED, W. P. PUTNAM.

